Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s provision of swimming lessons. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault for part of the complaint, and an investigation into the remainder is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s swimming lessons for her grandchild, Y, including:
• that Y was withdrawn from lessons following an issue with her direct debit; and
• about the quality of the lessons provided.
2. Mrs X said the matter caused her frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the provision of swimming lessons regarding her grandchild, Y.
7. Mrs X complained the Council withdrew Y from their swimming lessons. Mrs X cancelled her direct debit which meant Y was withdrawn. Although Mrs X did not intend for the cancellation to result in Y being withdrawn from her lessons until the end of the term, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation, and so we will not investigate this complaint.
8. Mrs X also complained about the quality of the lessons between September 2024 and November 2024. We will not investigate this matter. The Council told Mrs X it provided 5 updates during this period. It acknowledged her comments about how it provides updates on assessments and apologised for any confusion about Y’s progress. It said from January 2025 it would increase the number of assessments it conducts to occur every three weeks.
9. An investigation into this matter is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome, and so we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault for part of the complaint, and an investigation into the remainder is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman